


081 - Wedding Plus One

by storiesaboutvan



Category: Catfish and the Bottlemen (Band)
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 04:12:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17439728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesaboutvan/pseuds/storiesaboutvan
Summary: Filling the prompts “could you please write a story about Van being your plus one at your sistwrs wedding?” and “Can you do a story where you’re a bridesmaid and van comes with you to the wedding?”





	081 - Wedding Plus One

"Do you think it's hideous?" you asked Van for the thousandth time. Your sister was getting married and she asked you to be a bridesmaid. You weren't her maid-of-honour, which you were secretly thankful for, but you still would be looked at by hundreds of people while you stood uncomfortably in the ugliest strappy heels you'd ever seen. And, don't even ask about the dress. The dress was silk, but it pulled at your hips and you didn't like how your arms looked in spaghetti straps. The worst part was the "dusty lavender" shade of the material. It was really a dirty light purple and it clashed badly with your skin tone. You thought it was hideous.

"Babe. We went through this, yeah? It's an average dress but you look killer in whatever. Besides, don't think nobody's going to be focused on you much," Van replied. You were sitting side by side on the edge of your bed looking at the dress hanging on the back of your door. Even through the plastic dress bag you could see the ugliness.

"Except you?"

"Except me," he agreed and pulled you back onto the bed to cuddle.

"What if I trip or something?"

"You just have to do what I do on stage. Just get up and keep going," he replied. You snuggled into his arms and smiled, nodding. He didn't fall often, but when he did, he really stacked it hard. Somehow he managed to continue to play guitar through it though. And no matter what, you'd have to keep playing bridesmaid through whatever the day was going to throw at you.

…

The morning of, you got up before the sun and kissed Van's sleeping face. As you crawled from the bed he reached out for you. His eyes were closed and you were sure he was still asleep; his arm performing a dream movement to keep you close and warm and safe. You tucked his arm back under the blanket and picked up your bag on the way out. Your sister's third and final bridesmaid was waiting out front in her car.

"Let's get this show on the road," Charlotte said deadpan and unexcited. You stopped for strong coffee on the way.

At her house, your sister was surprisingly calm. She was laughing and in the process of deciding who would get their makeup done first. You realised she was already on the champagne. You volunteered as tribute, and had a face of cake half an hour later. Charlotte was next, and when she was done you snuck away from the others to have a smoke together on the back step. From inside you could hear Eliza boss people around, and your mum calling her Bridezilla. A cliché.

You arrived at the garden fifteen minutes late, and the wedding started twenty minutes after it should have. As you linked arms with one of the groomsmen and walked down the grassed aisle, you looked out over the crowd. It wasn't a huge wedding, but there was still enough people that it took you a second to find Van. He was with Charlotte's boyfriend, Will. As they turned to watch, Van smiled and sent you a wink. You poked out your tongue at him and hoped it wasn't a moment captured by the wedding photographers.

By the time the groom could now kiss the bride, your feet were aching, you were hungry, and your spine felt bent out of shape. Every time you glanced over at Van, he had a smirk on his face. You'd narrow your eyes, saying you should have sympathy for me. Then, he'd whisper something to Will and they'd try to contain chuckles. They'd only met once, maybe twice, before, but they seemed to be getting along way too well. You looked over at Charlotte, who was watching them too. She shook her head at you.

You followed Eliza and her new husband back down the aisle and got into a shiny car with Charlotte and two groomsmen. They were talking to you like you'd been best mates since the womb, but you'd only ever interacted at wedding related events. You wanted Van, not these sleazy dudebros who probably had literal bets on how many bridesmaids they could fuck.

…

The food was good, and you were glad that Eliza had accepted your input into that part of the wedding planning. As soon as it was polite to do so, you stood and found Van at a table he was not allocated to sit at. He'd swapped with someone to be next to Will. Van moved out from the table and you sat on his lap with a sigh. He wrapped his arms around you and rested his head against your back. Will laughed.

"I'm so, deeply and utterly exhausted," you said to him. He nodded and looked around.

"Where's Char?"

"Um. Your other half is…" you looked around for her, trying to remember what she'd last said to you. "Oh. Corn. She told me to tell you that she went to get the corn out of her teeth," you reported.

"I didn't get any corn?!" Van complained from behind you, not lifted his head. The pressure on your back was good, and you laughed.

"Nobody did. It's code. See you in a bit," Will replied and headed off out of the room. You unwrapped Van's arm and took Will's seat.

"They have a code system!"

"Look, Y/N, if we make a code, we're gonna use something better than corn for sex,"

"I don't know if that's what they're doing. I don't know about Charlotte, but I am not really feeling fuckable right now. My feet are definitely blistered. My back aches. My tummy hurts. I have a headache. I want this makeup off. I just…" you run out of things to complain about.

"Poor baby," Van said, and he wasn't being patronising. You pouted like a child and he cupped your face in his hands. "When are you allowed to leave?" He kissed you gently. You'd been waiting all day. His sharp as fuck suit was killing you.

"Not till literally the very end, or till after Eliza goes," you said. Van nodded. You looked back over at the bridal table. They were about to take photos. "I better go find Charlotte."

…

You had danced the exact minimum required to look like you were doing your part. Mostly you slow danced with Van so he could hold you while you napped on his shoulder. He nuzzled into your neck and left small kisses. You listened as he hummed along to all the tragic wedding songs. When Van dropped you back at your seat, you watched him go and speak to the groom. He shook hands and patted him on the shoulder. Charlotte dropped in the seat next to you.

"What's he doing?" she asked, motioning to Van.

"I don't know. He's up to something though."

You knew when Van was plotting. He'd hold one arm behind his back, and his eyes would flick from you to his victim. His victim, currently, was the groom. When their conversation ended and Van returned to his table with Will, you shot him a sideways head tilt and confused expression. He winked. You returned your attention to the groom, who went to Eliza. She was cutting small parts of the cake that were left into even smaller parts for a group of children bouncing around her fluffy white dress. Her husband leant in and whispered something. A deep shade of red bloomed across her cheeks and she nodded. They then circulated around the room quickly and you realised they were saying early goodnights. They got to their bridesmaids and groomsmen and announced their departure. As everyone emptied from the reception venue to outside to wave them off with cheers and streamers, Van found you. An arm was around your waist before you realised it was his.

"What did you do?" you asked. He shrugged and watched the car rumble with life. "Van,"

"I uh, just reminded him 'bout how pretty Eliza looks in that dress," he answered. It wasn't everything. You poked his side and he swatted your hand away grinning. "And, uh, about how more important than the dress is the fancy underwear brides wear,"

"You fucking little sneak," you said laughing. Will and Charlotte appeared. Van had obviously told Will about the plan, and he'd told Char.

"Van McCann. Doing the Lord's work out here," Will said and they did a weird fist bump that was clearly invented in the past few hours. You'd never seen Van fist bump anyone and it was so unlike him.

As the car disappeared around the corner of the street, you leant into Van. He pulled you close.

"Can I take you home now?" he whispered. You nodded.

…

Van ran a bath for you while you went through half a pack of makeup wipes to get your face clean. As you sat in the water and let the hot sink into your bones, Van came and sat on the floor by the bath.

"Want to hear something funny?" he asked.

"What kind of funny?"

"Like, bad funny," he replied; vague. You nodded. "I was having a smoke in the bathroom,"

"Why did you not just go outside?" you interrupted.

"The security out front were dead scary. Did you see how big they were?"

"Oh my god, Van,"

"Don't you be judging me!" his voice went high pitched and you were pretty sure you only teased him to hear that defensive tone. He shook his head at you. "So I went into one of the little cubicles 'cause the last one had a window. Anyway. I hear some lads come in and they're talking 'bout you lot - all the bridesmaids - and I realise it's the groomsmen. They had a bet about if they could sleep with you and Char, and even the other one. She's married and everything, right?"

"Kate. Yeah. So, I totally knew that was gonna happen. In the car from the ceremony to the reception I thought about it and everything. It's fucking disgusting,"

"Yeah. But, just so you know, you were worth the most. You coulda bet on yourself and made a mint, babe."

You shook your head again and closed your eyes.

…

Out of the bath and into bed, you were finally comfortable. Van was spooned around you and you were both clean and in love.

"Our wedding can't be like that," you told him.

"Who says I want to marry you?"

"Like you don't. You love me so much. You think I'm the best thing in the whole wide world,"

"That is very true. And our wedding will be quality. Curly fries. We'll have curly fries," he said. Van's potato of choice. "It will be mayhem and nobody will want to leave."

Once he started to think about it, he didn't stop. You listened to him talk and talk. The music. The venue. More about food. Chocolate cake. Open bar. No seating arrangements. Lots of places to smoke. Larry, at his side. More about the music. You fell asleep while he daydreamed out loud about the future you'd always wanted, and would definitely have one day soon.


End file.
